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History · Notus

Notus’ post office opened in 1886

Most of Notus was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1930.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Flickr user Afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Notus began

When was Notus founded?

1886

The Notus post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 144 in 19302020 census: 609140 years
Founding year: the first Notus post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Notus’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Notus are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Notus’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Notus’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Notus came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Notus.

Read it all →

The present day location of the City of Notus is located along Highway 20/26.

In 1874, the Lower Boise Post Office was established on the homestead of C.L.F Peterson. The inclusion of the Lower Boise Post Office is considered to be the primary reason for the present location of Notus. According to an Idaho Press Tribune article from 1986, Notus got its name from the daughter of a local railroad official. The daughter reportedly thought "notus" was of Native American origin and meant "it's all right." The town of Notus was almost known as 'Lemp'.

In 1926, the Notus secondary school was founded. In 2017, the old building was demolished.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Notus, decade by decade

Today8 recent
US Post office notus idaho 2012-10-012012US Post office notus idaho 2012-10-01Notus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoNotus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoNotus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoNotus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoNotus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoNotus, Idaho2012Notus, IdahoIDMap-doton-Notus2004IDMap-doton-Notus
On the map

Notus on the map, 1957 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Notus. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Notus on the 1957 USGS mapNotus on the 1971 USGS map1957Notus sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Notus.

People over time

Notus, census by census

010020030040050060019401960198020002020609

Grew from 144 people in 1930 to 609 in 2020, 4 times over.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Notus’ Wikipedia page.

Questions about Notus’ history

What year was Notus founded?

The Notus post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.